No Such Thing as Overkill
by SeaSpectre160
Summary: WHUMPTOBER 2019 PROMPTS #9 & 16: SHACKLED & PINNED DOWN. While Bucky didn't fight their captors, it was clear that he was fighting with HIMSELF to allow himself to be restrained.
1. Shackled

**I just can't seem to help myself, can I? I told myself that I would write for many fandoms this Whumptober, but the MCU is still dominating. This makes 5 prompts covered by this fandom this year – so far! I guess I just can't help but associate Bucky and Darcy with whump.**

**This is part of a fanfic idea I've had bouncing around in my head for a while, but I DON'T think I'm up for making it into a full-fleged fic, especially as I'm kind of fuzzy on how to start it and how to finish it. So, I'll just summarise the beginning part.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Marvel Cinematic Universe or any of the characters therein.**

**WORD COUNT: 774**

* * *

It wasn't how they expected the day to go. Bucky and Steve had dropped by the astrophysics lab to deliver lunch, as Jane insisted that she was on the verge of a breakthrough, and there was no time for Darcy to make a lunch run herself. Then, something funny had happened to one of the machines, and before Jane could fix it, a portal had opened up and sucked all four of them in.

They'd been dumped into a huge pile of snow in the middle of a forest somewhere, and at first, they didn't think they'd travelled _that_ far. At least, they were pretty sure they were still on Earth. They weren't wrong about that, but there was another factor that complicated things far more severely. At least, if they were on another planet, Darcy or Jane could scream at the heavens until Heimdall came and picked them up.

No, their situation was _much_ worse than that. It became very apparent when they found themselves surrounded by a group of men with guns. A _very familiar_ group of men with guns, _especially_ to Bucky and Steve.

"What the hell?" the man who looked _exactly_ like Bucky – only with shorter hair and less scruff – murmured as he got a good look at them.

"Holy shit," Darcy breathed, looking back and forth between the two of them, "Jane, did you accidentally build a time machine?"

Jane had protested, but eventually conceded that, yes, she had accidentally sent the four of them back in time, which was why they were now surrounded by Captain America and his Howling Commandoes in early 1944. It took them a while to convince the soldiers that their story really was true, but after Steve and Bucky answered a few questions that nobody else could (mostly Steve, as Bucky's memories were still iffy at certain points), they managed it.

Unfortunately, they didn't have much time to debate how the hell they were going to get back – or explain how Steve and Bucky still looked so young decades into the future – before a squadron of HYDRA soldiers attacked.

The Commandoes were good. Steve and Bucky as a team were _damn_ good. But the combination of the element of surprise plus one goon taking Jane hostage resulted in the heroes being taken captive, surprisingly without any serious casualties on their side.

It quickly became apparent, however, that there was more to it than that. The HYDRA soldiers had come prepared to restrain not one, but _three_ super-soldiers. That set off warning bells for each of the accidental time-travellers.

Both versions of Steve went along willingly with all the others having guns pressed against their heads. And while Bucky didn't fight their captors, it was clear that he was fighting with _himself_ to allow himself to be restrained.

First was a set of heavy-duty shackles, two cuffs for the wrists and one for the neck, all attached by stiff metal bars instead of chains. Then came the two sets of leg restraints, which went around his ankles and around the knee area to keep him from kicking out. Last was some sort of electronic 'collar' that went around his upper left arm and shut down the entire robotic limb, making it useless. Throughout the entire process, multiple guns were aimed at his head, ready to put him down should he fight back.

The Commandoes were stunned and more than a little frightened by the fact that their enemies seemed to treat Barnes – who, to them, was just a normal soldier from Brooklyn – like the most dangerous person in the group, even next to not one, but _two_ Captain Americas. Yet, at the same time, it made logical sense to them, because in the short fight that had preceded this, he had racked up a kill count equal to that of all the non-powered soldiers in the group _combined_, and demonstrated more than a few moments of enhanced strength and speed, along with some skills that their Barnes _swore_ he didn't currently have.

His fellow time-travellers, on the other hand, were more concerned about his reaction to being once more at the (nonexistent) mercy of HYDRA. He'd gone completely pale when the first set of shackles had been brought out, and now he was shaking all over, his entire body so tense he looked ready to break at any moment. And he was breathing harshly, like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.

"It'll be okay," Steve – his Steve – assured him, "We'll figure this out."

But how, he didn't know, as they were dragged through the snow and towards whatever HYDRA planned for them.

* * *

**Just to make this clear: I am not planning on turning this into a bigger fic. I am not planning to explain how the hell the future!HYDRA agents got into the past. I may plan on writing an escape scene for a later prompt, but that may or may not happen (I'll still leave this marked as incomplete unless I change my mind). This is just the only solid part of the concept that formed in my head, and frankly, I already have a very long to-do list and recently got a new job that will take up more of my time. If you want to adopt this fic idea, go ahead – just let me know when you do so, because I'd like to read it myself. But any pleas to write a sequel or an expansion of this will be utterly ignored. End of discussion.**

**On a happy note, I am pleased to report that the follow-up fic to Chapter 14 (Torture) of last year's Whumptober, 'Dahlia Parkinson Is Dead', is almost complete! It will probably be a little over 10 chapters. Once this Whumptober is over, I'll be focusing back on 'Two For The Price Of One', but then I might move on to that, simply because it's closer to being done.**


	2. Pinned Down

**I'll say it right now: this chapter was a _bitch_ to write. It fought me every step of the way, to the point that I'd get _maybe_ one or two sentences done per day. Sometimes, not even that much. Eventually, I wound up changing the direction it was going in to fit the prompt better, especially since my old idea (and the whole reason why I chose this prompt for Part 2) wasn't quite flowing. On the plus side, though, I finished writing the last chapter of 'Two For The Price Of One' early (it was supposed to wait until after I finished this). Not that there was much left to write; it was already halfway done. Also, when I get stuck on one fic, I tend to walk away, do something else, and come back when my mind is clearer. When doing this, I also try and work on another fic for the same fandom, so now I've made some significant progress with 'Dahlia Parkinson is Dead', which, in case any of you didn't know, is a full-length continuation of my response to Prompt #14 of Whumptober 2018. I've completed nine chapters, now, and am approaching the climax of the story. While I'm not supposed to be working on any new stories until my two incompletes and Whumptober 2019 are finished, sometimes the muse wants what the muse wants, and who am I to say no?**

**I should warn you, I'm not very proud of how this turned out.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Marvel Cinematic Universe or any of the characters therein.**

**WORD COUNT: 1452**

* * *

They were all put in the same room, with no windows; only a couple of bare bulbs (one of them flickering occasionally) hanging from the ceiling.

Shackles lined both side walls, and it was by those that the Commandoes and the unexpected time-travellers were restrained. The future version of Bucky and both Steves were the exceptions; the HYDRA agents knew better than to take their heavy-duty restraints off, so the three super-soldiers were instead dragged over to the back wall, where six metallic circles were affixed several feet above the floor. Their purpose became very clear when they emitted a soft humming sound, and the wrist shackles of their restraints were suddenly yanked up by the very powerful magnets within. The three men were left hanging from the wall, their feet not even touching the floor.

Then they were left alone.

As soon as the HYDRA agents were gone, Bucky immediately began struggling with his restraints. His friends in the 21st century knew how much they were freaking him out. Being restrained reminded him too much of the Chair, and of the torture he'd been forced to endure when he'd been confined to it. The additional hardware – including the heavy-duty leg shackles that functioned more like an inflexible knee brace, limiting his ability to effectively kick out at his captors – groaned, but didn't budge.

"Babe, try to breathe, okay?" Darcy urged gently.

"I am _not_ letting them put me back in the Chair," Bucky growled, continuing to try and brace his feet against the wall so that he could pull his arms free of the magnets.

"Neither are we," the future Steve assured him, "But we need to take a breath, and figure out an escape plan. I want to know is how they knew about _us_."

"You mean how they knew they would have to restrain three super-soldiers instead of one?" Bucky retorted, still struggling with the restraints, "And how they just so _happened_ to have the right equipment on hand?"

The past version of Bucky raised a hand – well, as much as he was able to in his shackles – clearly with a question to ask. "I'm still stuck on the '_three_ super-soldiers' thing, to be honest. Since when was _I_ dumb enough to try and become one?"

"I didn't exactly _try_-"

"Spoilers!" Darcy interrupted her boyfriend, "_Big_ spoilers, people! I know that all I know about time travel is from movies and TV, but I don't think sharing too much news about the future is a safe thing to do!" She chewed her lip. "Even the parts we'd want to change."

* * *

"Just a bit more," Jane whispered encouragingly. She had been chained up closest to the door, along with Morita across from her, and they were keeping an ear out for the enemy. However, both were often looking back at the three super-soldiers in the back of the room.

The three of them were working to try and break Bucky's leg shackles. The 1944 version, on one side, had one foot braced against the side wall and the other foot against the back of Bucky's knees, to hold his legs in place. Meanwhile, the older Steve was also bracing himself against his side wall, but he was pushing his other foot against the lower half of the brace-like shackles, adding extra force to Bucky's attempt to bend his legs and snap the restraints. They were already bent quite a bit, and creaking loudly as the three soldiers pushed, which was both a sign of progress and something that could draw unwanted attention (hence Jane and Morita keeping an ear out).

Jane nearly jumped out of her skin when the knee shackles finally broke in two with a loud snapping/cracking noise, and winced when the Bucky shook the pieces off and they clattered loudly to the cement floor.

A murmured "Uh-oh…" could be heard from Darcy, in response to the sound of shouting coming from outside their cell.

* * *

It was chaos. They had been lucky that the first HYDRA agent to run into the cell had been stupid enough to get as close as he did to Bucky.

The former Winter Soldier had managed to trap the goon's neck between his lower legs and the ankle shackles, and threatened to snap his neck if he didn't unlock said shackles. And the rest of the restraints, while he was at it.

The goon had been skeptical of his ability to do so, but when asked if he _really_ wanted to test his theory (and when Darcy had casually remarked about Natasha Romanov's own Strangling Thighs of Death™), he had come within an inch of wetting himself and hastily complied.

Unfortunately for him, while it turned out that Bucky really hadn't been able to snap his neck with the ankle restraints, he had no problem doing so without them – after he and both Steve's were freed, of course.

The shackles holding everyone else may as well have been tinfoil to the super-soldiers – especially the one with a metal hand, so while the future version of Steve held the door shut against the other HYDRA goons who _finally_ decided to check in on their buddy (one of the higher-ups could be heard giving his underlings a well-deserved verbal thrashing for their stupidity), the other two freed everybody.

Then they had to fight their way out. And _that_ was when chaos erupted.

Steve had yanked the door open just as a pair of big, burly agents tried to body-slam it, his timing sending them sprawling onto the floor. It took only a second to grab the four most visible weapons on their persons, and then the firefight started.

Dugan, Jones, Falsworth, and the past version of Barnes were the ones with the guns, and they managed to take out all the HYDRA agents gathered outside the cell, which meant more guns for the good guys – a _lot_ more guns, as each one was carrying at least two – and quite a few knives (most of which the future Bucky took for himself). Even Jane and Darcy carried a gun each, although that was for a last-resort scenario.

The group quickly made their way through the complex, retracing their steps and making it all the way to the final corner unmolested before coming up against a rather large group of HYDRA agents. Unfortunately, it seemed like most of the incompetent ones had been trying to break down the cell door, because these ones were smart enough not to waste their ammo shooting at thin air while the would-be escapees were hunkered down behind the cement wall. It took the future Bucky blocking shots with his metal arm (something that made the Howling Commandoes goggle a bit) and working with his past self to pull off a few headshots to get the bastards to pull back.

This bought the escapees just enough time to run out the door, but they were still being pursued. The compound was located in the middle of a forest, but there was still a wide expanse of snowy ground for them to cover before they reached the relative safety of the treeline.

They were almost there when things went even more downhill.

"BUCKY!"

Bucky skidded to a stop when his girlfriend's scream, coming from behind him, reached his ears. He looked back, only for his blood to run cold at what he was seeing.

Darcy was on the floor, with a HYDRA agent pinning her down, one of his knees digging into her shoulder blades and a knife up against her throat. Her gun was in the snow several feet away, having apparently flown out of her hand when she was tackled to the ground.

"I'll cut her throat!" the agent threatened, "Come back to us, _Soldat_, and we'll consider letting her live!"

"Fuck you!" Darcy growled, although her voice was shaking.

Bucky froze. His girlfriend had a knife to her throat. At a glance, he could tell this man was no amateur; if Bucky took two steps, Darcy would be dead.

CRACK!

The knife-wielding agent's head jerked as a something exploded out of the side of it, and then he went limp, collapsing on top of Darcy.

Bucky switched his gaze to the direction the shot had come from and saw himself – his past self – lowering his still-smoking weapon (before turning to return fire at the compound). He shook off the shock and darted forward, helping Darcy throw off the dead weight pinning her to the ground – literally; he picked the dead man up with one hand and tossed the corpse off to the side. Then he half-dragged her into the tree line, firing back at the HYDRA agents as he went.

* * *

**Yes, this is where I'm ending the story. No, I'm still not revealing anything about _how_ the HYDRA agents from the modern day got to 1944. Sometimes, I daydream about possible fanfic scenes, and sometimes I can get full-fledged fics out of them. Other times, I don't. So, you're only getting the snippets, sort of like a belated Evil Author Day.**

**Honestly, I know this is probably very unsatisfying. I'm not happy about it, either. I'm just not getting any inspiration for anything beyond what's written. Just writing this chapter was like pulling teeth!**

**I often like looking at how characters have changed, especially time-travel fics wherein past versions characters meet older versions of themselves and/or their friends, and their reactions to how they have changed. That was a huge part of what I was aiming for in this fic, and I think it's safe to say that I mostly failed. **

**So, if you have an idea of how to work with this, I am putting this story idea up for adoption. You will need to message me directly and ask for permission, first. I will want credit for the original concept, of course, and to be messaged or otherwise alerted when you put your version up so that I can read it for myself. But, again, ASK FOR PERMISSION, FIRST.**

**The next Whumptober entry, for the prompt '"Stay with me"', is a 'Supergirl' fic called 'Listen as You Die'. It's a two-parter, with Part 2 being for Prompt #19. I'm hoping for a May 25th release, but as of writing this note, I haven't even _started_ writing that, and I've also gone back to 'Reawakening' now that 'Two For The Price Of One' is done with. Damn it, these past couple of months, I've (mostly) been getting chapters written at least a week in advance, but this damn story has gone and eaten up all that time! So, don't be too surprised if the next one ends up being released in early June, instead.**


End file.
